The Duchess of Malfi is a Jacobean revenge tragedy, written by John Webster. It is a loose interpretation of the death of Giovanna d’Aragona, the Duchess of Amalfi, and starts as a love story between the Duchess and Antonio. However, it quickly turns to tragedy, as the Duchess’s brothers hear of their marriage (which would interfere with their own inheritance) and decide to kill her.
In my opinion, the most interesting part of this play is the opening. Act One is just a single ongoing scene, almost 500 lines long, which involves nearly every character entering the stage at some point. This is a very tricky balancing act, as Webster had to be sure not to overcrowd the stage, and ensure that nobody heard anything they weren’t supposed to know at this time. In this, I believe that it is a perfect representation of a royal court, made in miniature for an audience to experience.
BOSOLA: Fare ye well sir; and yet do not you scorn
us, for places in the court are but like beds in the hospital,
where this man’s head lies at that man’s foot, and so lower,
and lower.
[ Exit]DELIO: I knew this fellow seven years in the galleys
Webster, John. The Duchess of Malfi. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014. Lines 64-70
For a notorious murder, and ‘twas thought
The Cardinal suborned it.
At this point in time, the royal court was a deeply secretive place. People thrived on gossip and intrigue, and needed to keep abreast of the current political alliances, in order to stay afloat. As such, formatting the scene in this way allows for Webster to capture the fast-paced nature of this setting; much like in the royal court, the audience must keep up with many characters, and the gossip surrounding them.
Because of this, I really enjoyed this scene; although it was hard to keep track of, at first. In order to pull it off on stage, each character would need to be very clearly defined in the audience’s mind – probably through costume – so that they do not get confused. Overall, however, this scene is very impressive in its depiction of a very specific setting.